The organizers of the Paris Olympic Games said they used a mix of water and light to create a “greener” flame for the Olympic cauldron, and some fans feel duped.
During the opening ceremony, French Olympic gold medalists Marie-José Pérec and Teddy Riner seemingly used torches to set the Olympic cauldron ablaze, but the flame was actually an illusion made with 40 LED lights and over 200 water misting nozzles.
Amid intensifying climate change concerns, Tony Estanguet, head of the Paris 2024 organizing committee, told The Telegraph that they wanted the Olympic cauldron to “use a new technology in order to not produce too many emissions.”
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He added, “We were ambitious, and we wanted to bring together something spectacular and environmental responsibility at the same time.”
For some social media commentators on X, the fake flame was a flop.
“It's not even a flame, the symbol of the games is a fake. LED's and a smoke machine,” wrote X user @ShaGGy_Uk.
“I appreciated the ‘look’ that the balloon created - by it being somewhat reflective, the fake flame underneath lights it up so it has the classic look of a cauldron. THAT BEING SAID not even carrying a flame makes it the worst Olympic cauldron of all time,” added X user.
Others applauded the Olympics organizers for the green message.
“Very cool that the Olympic cauldron in Paris isn’t a real flame but an environmentally friendly water mist lit by LED lights. #Olympics #Paris2024,” wrote @elementalPaul on X.
The flame dates back to the 1936 Berlin Olympics, reported Time magazine. Carl Diem—secretary general of the Olympics’ organizing committee—suggested the idea of a flame being lit in Olympia, the founding site of the Olympics, and the torch was transported to seven countries.
